


Synth

by queencestqueen



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Humans (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, F/M, Incest, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-16
Updated: 2017-01-06
Packaged: 2018-04-26 16:59:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5012644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queencestqueen/pseuds/queencestqueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[Tholiver] In a parallel present where the latest must-have gadget for any busy family is a 'Synth' - a highly-developed robot. To the surprise of both his parents, Oliver Queen's very first and only Synth is a Growth Series Synthetic that he names Thea. However, Thea isn't just the average 'GSS' and that becomes all too clear after her eighteenth birthday when Leo Elster shows up on their doorstep. [A HUMANS inspired/crossover story.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. January 21, 1995

**Author's Note:**

> **Notes/Warnings:**  
>  \- Italicized words are thoughts as well as emphasized words  
> \- Dedicated to thefiremonqueen; thank you, dove, for being my test reader and sounding board.
> 
>  **Disclaimer:**  
>  All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of this author. This author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Oliver walked two steps behind both his parents who diligently followed the salesperson talking their ears off. The ten-year-old wasn't paying attention to the adults though; his head was practically on a swivel as they made their way down the dark grey, metal-walled hallway. His eyes read the generic names on the wall next to the life-sized cases: Sally, Charlie, Rory. There was so much to see, so much to take in. How could they not be as mesmerized by the dolls as he was? They were so shiny and lifelike as they slept in their glass cases; like princes and princesses awaiting the kiss to awaken them! A frown turned his lips down. _Fairytales are ideas for little girls; I am too grown up for that stuff._

Movement to his left drew his gaze off the synthetic dolls on display. There was a large plasma screen set up on a movable display. An older man was taking practice swings from atop the faux-turf in front of the screen, playing golf on the gaming system. A synthetic stood behind him, dressed like a golf trainer, no doubt awaiting the man's need for instruction. Oliver turned to look at his parents, hoping they might be willing to pause their tour of the show floor so he too could play the game, but they were already much further ahead. He ran to catch up to them before his father noticed he was lagging behind.

"-and just up ahead," said Jeffery the salesman as he gestured towards the door on the right, "is the room where we will most likely find a synthetic for your boy." The man's comment made Oliver feel giddy with excitement. Today was the day; he was finally going to get his very first synthetic all his own. He'd wanted one just for himself since Tommy got one, but his parents had made him wait until the start of the new year. It was all over now; at long last, it was his turn.

As he followed behind his parents absorbing the general atmosphere as children often do, he took note of a large window breaking up the continuous grey of the hallway wall. Ever the curious one, Oliver broke away from the adults to get a better look inside. _Something pretty special has to be in that room._ He had to stand on the tips of his toes to even see through the bottom edge of the glass panel. Oliver was just about to go on the hunt for something to make him tall enough to see inside, when there was a small beep followed by a buzzing noise. Concerned that the noise might be a proximity alarm of some kind, the young boy scrambled a few steps backward. The door to the room, which had blended so seamlessly into the wall that it was almost nonexistent, swung open and a woman dressed in an all-white protective suit stepped out. Oliver slipped inside the room before the door could close and lock once more.

The room was about as big as their family sitting room at home, but was completely devoid of any feelings of warmth. It even lacked the gray metallic look that the rest of the building had; instead, it was just pure, blinding white. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust. There were incubators lined up in rows of ten and the young boy moved carefully through them, reading the tags at the feet of the containers: Daniel, Zoey, Alesha, Pirjo, Juhana, Ventseslav, Oscar, Elizabeth. _Baby synths?_ He'd always thought the synthetics were made to look like grown-ups right from the factory. The sight of the unnaturally still, and obviously a bit creepy, babies in the glass boxes did not make sense to the young boy.

He peered into each glass box to see the children inside as he moved down the rows. They were all cute of course, but then he reached the very last glass box. The baby inside looked pretty much like any other baby, sleeping peacefully or so it was meant to appear, but Oliver couldn't stop looking at the little girl wrapped in the pink cotton sheet. As if sensing his presence, the baby opened its eyes and turned her head. Her tiny hand reached out for him and, as if he were entranced, he reached out too and took ahold of the small hand. The baby smiled.

"Oliver! There you are."

"What have we told you about wandering off, son?" Oliver didn't even turn to look at his parents. He couldn't. His eyes were glued to the baby.

"I found her." He said softly as his parents came up beside him.

"Ah, it seems the young man has found our G-series synthetics room." The salesman said, his voice oddly cheerful, as he entered the room behind the worried parents. "Most of them, as you can see, have been reserved for purchase, mainly by couples in need of children."

The ten-year-old turned half a step to look at the older man, but before he could open his mouth, his father laid a hand upon his shoulder. Oliver's crystal blue eyes turned back to the baby. "She's taken?" The hand wrapped around his finger was a pleasant sort of warmth, but it alone was not enough to distract him from the sadness invading his body. To him, this baby was meant for him. _How can she be taken?_

"Yes," the man said, his voice taking on a note of sympathetic sorrow at the sight of the tears glittering in the young boy's eyes. "Her name is," He moved to the end of the incubator and the sentence died away, "Hmm…that's-that's odd."

Oliver's eyes lifted hopefully as the salesman moved over to the table along the adjacent wall and began tapping away at the tablet there. The small fingers flexed slightly and the boy's attention was back on the little creature inside the clear box. Her little mouth was opening and closing slowly, a small cooing sound coming out as her green eyes blinked open again. Without thinking, he pulled his hand free from her grip so he could wrap his arms around her.

"Don't, Oliver." His mother said, but he paid it no mind. He picked the baby up gently, making sure to keep her head up instinctively and cuddled her close to his body. She made one more soft sound before she drifted peacefully off to sleep, tiny ear resting against his heartbeat. _She's mine_ , he thought, suddenly determined, as the salesman turned around.

"This never happens," he started to say, speaking directly to the adults. They were, after all, the ones with the checkbook. "but that GSS was crafted for a young couple, but when it came time to pick it up, they cancelled their order."

"Why?" asked Robert, his eyes narrowing in concern as he looked down at his smitten son, "is something wrong with it?"

"Oh no," Jeffery was quick to assure him, "the couple received the good news that they were pregnant so they didn't need the GSS anymore. It's rare, obviously, but it can happen." His attention turned to the youngster as he lowered himself so they were eyelevel and smiled charmingly, "You've chosen very well, young man. This GSS was one of David Elster's very last handcrafted synths."

"So I can have her?" Oliver asked, doing his best to keep his voice from sounding _too_ hopeful.

"Oliver," His mother turned him with a gentle hand upon his shoulder, "Wouldn't you rather a synth you could play ball with or one to help you with your homework?" Moira peered down at the baby, "She's very cute, but she'll be so much work, sweetie. Surely, you don't want that, do you?"

He looked down again to look at the slumbering face of the infant. He looked up quickly once more, "Yes, I do, Mom. She can be my little sister!" He missed the look of desperation that his mother shared with his father.

"Son-"

"Please!" Oliver pleaded, turning his big, blue eyes to his father, "Please! You promised _I_ could pick my first synth! I promise, I promise, I'll take good care of her, no, no great care of her! Please!"

His father gave him a long, searching, look, but Oliver held fast. "You promise you'll take care of her?" Robert asked just to make certain.

"The 2 AM wake up calls? The diaper changes? The constant need for new clothing? The crying?" Moira tacked on, hoping the daunting nature of the tasks would make her son see reason. Synths were an investment of a lifetime, and a Synth that would grow as if it were human, that was an even greater investment. "You're ready for all that. sweetheart?"

Oliver nodded eagerly as if the prospect of all of it was thrilling to him, instead of a burden. "Yes, yes, I'm ready, I'm sure." He clutched the baby tighter, " _I want her_." His voice brooked no argument and, this time, no one even tried.

As the group walked the length of the facility, Oliver listened with half an ear to the salesman's pitch. "GSS are very different to our normal synthetics, are you aware of that?" The ten-year-old was too busy cooing at the baby in his arms to hear his parents' response. "As their descriptor indicates, the Growth Series grow and age as any normal child would, given the passage of time. Unlike our other synths, their intelligence is limited to what they would know if they were human children at any given age and, in order to keep this true, GSS' cannot received shared information from other synthetics."

"What about eating? Surely, if they are meant to appear as human as possible, they must be able to consume food and drink." His father's question had Oliver's complete attention.

"Yes, the GSS will have the desire for sustenance just like any human child would. Until the age of about six, give or take, the GSS will just have to be fake fed, empty bottle and clean diapers changed anyway."

"What happens at six?"

"At that time, the GSS can be fully trusted to maintain his or her food intake and if desired, they can be fitted with a removable, unbreakable bag that will allow the GSS to eat and drink without worry of damage to the internal workings." With someone to protect now, Oliver was wearier of the hustle and bustle around them; people could easily bump his arms and the little girl could get hurt. That was something the boy did not want to happen.

"Because GSS' are so young in initial appearance," Jeffery started to explain over his shoulder as they moved forward, "their set-up is different than our other synths." He brought them to a halt in front of what looked like a baby's weight scale. "Please place the GSS in the computer, son." Oliver looked at his dad and then at the salesman before placing the little girl down inside the clear plastic tub. "Step back, please."

Reluctantly, Oliver pulled his finger from the tiny hand's hold. Her bright green eyes blinked and then watered with unshed tears that squeezed the young boy's heart painfully. Jeffery moved forward and touched the baby under her chin, powering her down completely. The ten-year-old hated the way she looked so still. The older man hit a few buttons on the keypad of the cradle-like device and then turned back to face the family of three. "Which of you will be the GSS' primary user?"

"I will be." Oliver declared before either Moira or Robert could open their mouths. The salesman's happy smile faltered ever so briefly as his gaze turned to the two elder Queens.

"He will be," Robert confirmed and Jeffery's smile turned real again.

"Okay then,"

"Her primary function will be?"

"Little sister." There was no hesitation, no doubt.

"Okay," Jeffery said dragging out the single word slowly, "That isn't the normal main programming for GSS', but I can switch its secondary and main programs pretty easily. Just a minute." Oliver fidgeted impatiently until his father's hand came down upon his shoulder and stilled his son's anxious movements. "Hmm… that's…"

"What?" Robert interceded, weary now that twice the salesman was surprised by the synth Oliver had chosen.

"Oh, it's nothing," Jeffery was quick to assure again, "It's just that her programs have already been switched to make her 'sibling program' her primary." After an additional minute of typing, the salesman tapped the infant under her chin again and her eyes, now the bright blue of set-up mode, flew open once more. "Take her hand again, son, and repeat these words," Jeffery instructed and handed him a tablet.

"Please verbalize the serial code to activate your synthetic." That instruction came from the cradle itself.

"Rose three. Moose two. Everest one. Seashell."

"Welcome to set up mode for your Growth Series Synthetic! What is the name of the primary user?"

"Oliver Queen."

"Ready for primary user bonding. Please give the synthetic your hand for DNA sampling. This information will never be shared with any third-party organization." Oliver offered the infant his hand again and quickly tiny fingers wrapped around his thumb. It made him feel like an important person. Suddenly, he _felt_ like a big brother.

"Oliver Queen, you are now bonded to this synthetic as its primary user with the relational title of older brother?"

"Is this correct?"

"Yes."

"Are there any other users to be bonded to this synthetic at this time?"

"Yes." After that, both Moira and Robert repeated the process and soon both adults were logged as secondary users under the relational titles of mother and father.

"Bonding is now complete," the computer declared. "Do you wish to establish a name for this synthetic now?"

"Yes."

"What is the name?"

Oliver turned and looked back at his parents. They both offered no suggestions. He looked down at the baby. Her eyes were still the bright blue of set-up mode, but she was looking up at him. Suddenly, he _knew_ her name. "Thea Dearden Queen."

The computerized voice replied, "Please restart your synthetic to have the bonds take full effect."

Jeffery stepped forward again and pressed the button under her chin. The baby's eyes changed once more back to the bright green color signifying synthetics. He lifted the infant out of the cradle and handed her off to Oliver. "Well, she's yours now, young man."

Oliver's grin was as bright as the sun when Thea was once more settled into his arms. Though she was a weary of his choice in synth, even Moira couldn't help, but smile at the delight upon her son's face. Sometimes she worried that growing up in their high society world was costing Oliver his youthful enjoyment, but in that moment, he was just a little boy holding his doll for the very first time after bonding. It was sweet.

"You can purchase accessories for your synthetic here as well, if you wish." Jeffrey's smile was as sweet as molasses when Oliver's head shot up. Robert cringed, though he was quick to hide it. The mark-ups on the add-ons was how they really took one's money and the eagerness on Oliver's face was like a beacon of weakness for the predatory salesman.

"Can we go look at 'em? Please Dad?" Oliver implored, "I'll pay for them too."

The family patriarch wanted to say no, wanted to warn the younger man of the expense, but then the baby gurgled. Her little hand waved in the air for a moment and Robert knew he was doomed. By virtue of her programming, that little girl was suddenly his daughter. Now he had two children to whom he could not say no. "Maybe just a car seat...so we can get Thea home safely." He pretended not to see his wife's look of disbelief; how could she not be effected by the power of the new siblings?

"Unfortunately, our onsite accessories for the GSS are extremely limited, given that they are usually made to order. However, we do have a few things available for purchase in person and, of course, our online store has a much wider selection." The salesman cautioned as he led them away from the programming station and back to the ground level. Unlike the second floor, which displayed the various synthetics that could be bought, this one was solely for the numerous extras that could be purchased. People milled about everywhere making a nervous Oliver hold Thea tighter to himself as they moved through the chaos.

"Don't worry, Thea," the ten-year-old whispered to the baby as he kept his eyes on a swivel for danger. "I won't let anything happen to you."

"Oliver," Robert said, keeping his voice low so Jeffery would not overhear what he was about to say, "we'll go to the baby store after this, so, just the car seat here, okay?"

Oliver nodded softly, "Okay, Dad."

"Here it is," Jeffery said, gesturing widely towards the extremely limited selection of baby accessories. A small frown turned Oliver's lips down. _This is it? There's barely anything to choose from at all!_ Only two car seat products were on the shelves: one was blue and the other pink-ish. He knelt down on one knee, and turned his attention to the little girl in his arms, "Do you like the blue one or the pink one, Thea?" He asked, "The blue one's got Winnie the Pooh and a tree and the pink one has Winnie and Piglet." The baby gave no response, aside from curling towards the warmth of his body in her sleep. Still, Oliver was able to make the decision. "The pink one," He declared confidently, standing up and turning to the adults gathered behind him.

"My, aren't you a decisive one." The salesman commented. The young boy wasn't sure whether or not it was a compliment. The taller man stepped around him to pull the box off of the shelf. "Shall we complete the transaction now?" That question was directed at his parents, but Oliver wasn't offended being ignored. Many adults did that. It was just the way that the world was.

"Yes," Robert said.

While his parents moved to the counter to pay for the synthetic doll and car seat, using their executor access to his account to do so, Oliver sat down in a nearby chair. He very carefully shifted the calm baby in his arms; she didn't even make a small noise of protest, simply smiling happily up at him. Grinning, he raised his hand up to her eye-line and wiggled his fingers, making silly noises. Thea gurgled and reached for the moving digits with both hands. She caught them and slowly dragged his hand down so she could mouth at his fingertips. _She's so cute!_

"Oliver." He looked up at his mother. Payment had taken less time then he'd expected. "It's time to go, sweetheart." Once outside the store, Robert sat the box on the ground and removed the car seat. As soon as it was in place, Oliver stepped up between his parents and placed the baby down. He fumbled a little with the numerous straps and latches before Moira moved to help her young son. "It takes practice, that's all." She said when she took note of the frustrated look on the ten-year-old's face, "You'll get the hang of it in no time at all."

Oliver made a noise of discontent before he walked around to the opposite side of the Towne Car and pulled open his door. Just as he was climbing inside the vehicle and choosing the seat next to his new sister, he spotted Jeffery running out after them. Through the glass of the window beside the car seat, Oliver watched the salesman hand his father a big booklet. A few sentences were exchanged between the two men as the book was passed off to his mother. Then Jeffery held out a small, bright red, square about the size of a credit card to the patriarch. Robert took it and hastily it stuck in his jacket pocket. Oliver's curiosity was peaked. _What is that thing?_

As Moira moved towards the car, Oliver quickly faced forward and clicked the seat-belt into place. Thea's hands waved a little in the air when the door opened and their mother slipped inside. He spotted a fleeting smile on the elder woman's lips before she schooled her features. She tossed the book across to the seat beside him. "It's her user's manual; you might want to read it, Oliver, if you really want to take care of your synth."

He turned to look at the little girl, "I do."

"Good."

After a quick chat with their driver in regards to their new destination, Robert slid into the back of the car too. Once all members of the Queen family were safely buckled in, the Towne Car pulled out of its parking spot to rejoin the highway traffic. Oliver wanted so badly to ask about that red thing, but every time he considered asking he thought better of it. The car ride was silent for all of two minutes before both their parents were on their respective cellphones, handling crises or negotiating prices. Instead of letting himself wallow in the usual pang of invisibility he felt when his parent's turned their attention elsewhere, Oliver turned to the baby beside him and began making silly faces. It took a couple of tries, but eventually one of those funny faces earned him a genuine baby giggle. He felt so proud.

The small, childlike sound magically got both the adults off their cellphones. "I made her laugh," Oliver informed them cheerfully as if they hadn't already put that together.

"That reminds me," Moira said, changing the subject suddenly, "where did you even come up with the name Thea? Is it the name of a girl you know?"

Oliver shook his head a little, "Thea just came to me when I was standing there. It fits her though, doesn't it?"

"It does," Robert agreed, his eyes flicking briefly to Thea before turning back to his phone. Oliver frowned, deciding in that moment that he would not let his sister feel the hurt of being second best. He felt that emotion keenly and he didn't want that for Thea. He would make sure that she could always look to him and know she was loved.

A few minutes later the Towne Car came to a stop and Oliver rushed around the car to get her out; it was bad to leave a baby in a hot car. Moira slid out of the vehicle and joined the children on the curb. When Robert failed to leave the car within a few seconds of his wife, Oliver knew; his dad wasn't coming with them to buy things for Thea.

"I'm sorry to do this, but there's something I have to attend to at the office," The ten-year-old kept his eyes unfocused and trained on a spot next to the window where his father's head poked out. "Get Thea everything she'll need, on me." In his peripheral vision, he could see his mother accepting the black credit card Robert held out. "I'll help you put it all together later, okay son?"

He wanted to tell his father that no, it was not okay. Wanted to remind him that this hour that they'd spent together was the most they'd shared as a family in about a year. It was on the tip of his tongue to say that it was no wonder he had to buy himself a sister; mom probably didn't want to raise another child alone. He wanted to shout that he was sick and tired of coming in second to the company. What good was all their money and status if it cost them their family? He wanted to say all that, but he didn't. It wasn't what was expected of him. "Okay, Dad."

"I'll send George back with the car as soon as I get to the office."

When the car merged back into traffic, Oliver looked up into his mother's face. She was very good at hiding it, but he could see it still. It hurt her just as much as it hurt him, if not more, to watch the man she loves choose the company instead of her time and again. It made him even madder at his father. In an attempt to erase that look from her eyes, Oliver reached out with his free hand and slipped it into his mom's. He was far too old to be holding his mother's hand, but she needed it; his pride could suffer a few minutes of humiliation.

"Okay," Moira said, her voice just a touch too chipper as she turned her blue eyes towards the new siblings, "Shall we buy Thea lots of new things, like a real baby sister should have?"

His hand tightened on the handle of the car seat turned carrier, "She _is_ a real baby sister, Mom. She's my sister."

"Of course, sweetheart." He could tell from her tone that she was just humoring him, but further discussion on the matter was rendered impossible as they entered the store and were quickly assaulted by the sights, sounds, and smells of the upscale baby boutique.

* * *

After a long afternoon of moving his stuff so that he could move his sister into his room, putting together Thea's furniture, and showing the baby the entirety of their family's estate, Oliver was exhausted. Even though his mother as well as Gary and Jerry, two of their housework-tasked synthetics, had helped with the heavy lifting, he didn't even have the energy to pick up the phone and call Tommy liked he had promised he would. No doubt his best friend was going to be grumpy about that when he got to school tomorrow, but Oliver figured all would be forgiven once Tommy met Thea. Being a big brother was more work than he'd thought, but every time he started to doubt his ability to fulfill his new role, Thea would gurgle or grab for him and all doubt went away. She was his sister; it was as simple and complicated as that.

The infant was sleeping soundly in her crib next to Oliver's bed as he read through her manual. He was determined to read the heavy thing cover to cover. Breaking his baby sister was not on his to-do list! His attention was drawn away from the crisp pages when Thea began to cry. Immediately, he was off the bed and moving over to her crib, picking the baby up. Gentle noises came from his lips as he carefully laid her in his bent arms. _Maybe she's hungry?_ He went over to his nightstand and picked up one of the bottles they'd bought that day. She took the nipple easily enough and the crying stopped. Even though she could not yet consume anything, and as such there was nothing inside the container, the act of giving her the bottle was enough to fulfill her programming...or at least that's what the manual said.

"Hey, Thea, what do you say we go for a little walk down the hall while you eat, huh? Sound good?" The baby girl gave no response, but he'd not expected one. It was a bit tricky to hold the bottle, hold Thea, and open the door, but somehow he managed it after a minute of struggle. The hallway was quiet, as well it should be given how late it was; the only really sounds were the soft suckling noise from Thea and the faint, hushed sounds of whispers from their parents' room. From the tone he could tell that his parents were arguing; it was a sound he was rapidly becoming more and more familiar with. Bouncing the baby girl lightly in his arms, Oliver stood next to his parents' door, his back against the wall.

"-you let him buy the first one that he saw." He had to strain to hear his mother's hissed words through the door

"I let him? You were there too, Moira." There was a brief pause, "You saw him, how enthralled he was with it. There was no stopping him."

Worried that he might be about to be caught, the ten-year-old pushed off the wall and walked a few steps further down the hall. "Yes, for now, but how long until the synth joins the Furby he just _had to have_ when he was younger? I give it a week before that baby is deactivated and stuck in his closet. She cost him more than our last two synths combined, Robert. How could you let him spend that much?"

Oliver looked down at Thea. Her eyes were closed as she drank from the empty bottle. _I won't get tired of her, won't deactivate her._ He thought angrily. Thea wasn't like his Furby; she wasn't a toy or a doll, Thea was his sister. Without waiting to hear any more of his parents' argument, Oliver held Thea just a bit tighter and headed back to his room. His mother was wrong. _I'm never going to give up my Thea._


	2. Dollie Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [Tholiver] In a parallel present where the latest must-have gadget for any busy family is a ‘Synth’ - a highly-developed robot. To the surprise of both his parents, Oliver Queen’s very first and only Synth is a Growth Series Synthetic that he names Thea. However, Thea isn’t just the average 'GSS’ and that becomes all too clear after her eighteenth birthday when Leo Elster shows up on their doorstep. [A HUMANS inspired /Crossover story.]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Notes/Warnings:  
> **  
>  \- In this chapter, Oliver (& his friends) are 13 & Thea is 3.  
> \- Schoolyard fight in this chapter.  
> \- Italicized words are thoughts as well as titles of other things.  
> \- Dedicated to langelomysterioso-blog; thank you, dove, for listening to my rants and being my sounding board.
> 
>  **Disclaimer:**  
>  All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of this author. This author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.  
> 

Life with a three-year-old was trickier than Oliver had thought. He'd gone through everything to baby-proof the mansion with one of their household Synths after he brought her home, but they'd forgotten to account for the little girl's curiosity. Anything within her reach was fair game and the items had either ended up in her mouth or in her chubby fists. He'd had to redo so many homework assignments because she'd gotten a hold of his homework and colored pictures over top of his responses. As such, Oliver really should have known better then to stick that stupid flyer in his backpack in the first place. Of course the bright blue page caught Thea's eye; it was her favorite color, after all. He should have just tossed the paper into the recycling bin on his way out of school that day, but Tommy had shown up and Oliver'd forgotten.

It was an average Monday after school, he and Tommy were lounging on his bed pretending to do their homework when an adult came to check up on them, but in between those times, the two were playing a video game. Thea was laying on the floor beside his, as she always did when they were in his room and otherwise occupied; she was busy coloring yet another picture on several sheets of lined paper.

"O'le!" she chimed suddenly, standing up to peer over the side of the bed at him. "Color! Color!" His thumb tapped the bright red pause button on the game, much to Tommy's displeasure, before turning to look at her. The used paper waved in her little fist as she once again declared, "Color! Color!"

His lips tipped upwards, "Need more paper, Speedy?"

She nodded a rather frantic yes in response.

"Again?" Tommy said with an almost indiscernible huff, "What's she drawing? The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel?" Oliver quickly shot his best friend an unhappy look and the other boy dropped his eyes right away.

He leaned down and grabbed ahold of his backpack strap, tugging it around to her side of the bed. "Have at it," He told her as he unzipped the bag, her fingers were still a bit too little for the task, "but remember, nothing with my handwriting on it, okay?" The little girl nodded and he resumed the game with no warning. For a few minutes, the battle between himself and Tommy on screen was so engrossing that Oliver actually forgot Thea was even in the room until…

"O'le!"

This time it was Tommy who hit pause on the game, "What is it, Thea?" He asked, his tone slightly tired, but the young girl failed to notice it.

She placed the blue paper down on the comforter and Oliver flinched, already knowing what was to come. _Should have trashed it_ , he thought miserably, as she pointed at the three words on the paper she could recognize. "Synth," she said, pointing at the dark, bolded word and then slid her finger down and over the page, "Dollie Day." Her synthetic green eyes met his without worry or fear, "I go."

Tommy turned to look at him then, his eyes clouded with confusion, "Haven't you prepared her, Oliver? Dollie Day's tomorrow!"

"No," Oliver said simply, powering down the gaming system, "because she's not going."

Thea frowned. "Synth," her voice was small as she held up the paper and waved it about. "Synth," she said again, this time pointing at herself. "I go."

"No, Speedy."

"Yes, I go." She informed him, frowning undoubtedly from frustration. She was three-years-old and already possessed the knowledge that her big brother was wrapped around her tiny fingers.

"C'mon, just let her go."

Tommy chiming in on Thea's behalf was surprising. He liked her, of course, as much as one can like their best friend's three-year-old sister. But Oliver knew that Tommy sometimes grew frustrated and annoyed with Thea's constant presence and that he relished their time in school mainly because Thea couldn't be there. So why then was Tommy pushing for him to take Thea to school on Dollie Day?

"Oliver, everyone knows that the real point of Dollie Day is to see who has the most awesome Synth. Oh sure, the school says it's to help 'expand young people's knowledge on a vital industry,'" here he did in fact roll his eyes, "but that's just so parents don't have a reason to complain."

He reached out and patted Thea on the shoulder and the little girl grinned brightly. "You have the coolest synth, a true one of a kind, growing Synthetic. She was even made by David Elster himself! Nothing can beat that. You've got to show her off, man."

"She's too little." It was the argument he'd used in previous years. It was a valid reason, in his opinion. He purposefully ignored the small sound of dissatisfaction from the child in question.

"I three!" Her tiny fingers displayed the number while she stomped her foot in protest. Instead of appearing tough and determined, all Oliver could think about was how cute she was when her little face was puffed up with resolve. "I big girl!"

"I said no." Oliver declared and turned away, ending the issue with a finality. She didn't understand, and there was no way that she could because he'd shielded her from the dark truth, but Tommy? He'd seen the news, he had to understand.

There were nuts out there, crazy people who thought synths were destroying the world and so they destroyed synths before the opposite could become reality. Rallies about human superiority and the crazies who supported the movement aired almost nightly on the news. The thirteen-year-old heir didn't understand their beliefs. Synths only eased the burden of humans; what was so wrong with that?

Then there were the people who didn't necessarily hate synthetics, but they did enjoy bashing them to pieces just to feel like humans were stronger. To Oliver, this was just mean; it was disrespectful to all the individuals behind the synthetics and to the synthetic itself. Of all the dangers humans possessed to synthetics though, what Oliver feared most was a subset of humans that he had termed: the kidnappers. Those people stole synths from others, reprogrammed them, and then sold them off to someone else. School was simply too crowded, had far too many distractions; if he took his eyes off Thea for a second and someone grabbed her…he would never forgive himself. It was too dangerous. But how could he explain all of that to the little girl? She would never understand it.

"Yes." Thea's little voice countered, ever stubborn.

"No and that's that, Speedy. You are not going tomorrow." He'd made up his mind and nothing and no one would change it.

* * *

School would never be one of Oliver's favorite places to go. He found most of the subjects boring and most of his classmates...stupid. Dollie Day was the one exception to his dislike. It was the one day a year that everyone, even teachers and lunch-ladies, could bring in one of their synths. Normally, Oliver enjoyed this day because he liked seeing the uniqueness of all of the synths and the variety of ways that they were of use.

He feigned a smile as the Townecar came to a stop at the drop-off spot. He turned in his seat and clicked the red button on Thea's car seat before lifting the straps off her shoulders carefully. She was grinning brightly. _I should have known…_

"Are you excited, Thea?" It would be a few minutes before it was their turn to unload. "Your very first look at school. You're going to be the star of the day. None of them have seen a little girl like you up close before."

"Plus," his driver, George, said from the front half of the car, "all the girls will go crazy for her 'cause she's so cute." Oliver frowned; _why would I care about a bunch of yucky girls?_ "Tell them how you chose her specifically," the elder man advised as he met Oliver's gaze in the rearview mirror, "They'll think you're really spiffy then."

"I don't care about girls." The boy mumbled insistently as he fiddled with the Scooby Doo backpack that the three-year-old had packed for the day. George chuckled in that way that grownups had, but said nothing more. Oliver felt the need to add, "'Sides the only girl I need is right here."

Thea giggled, "Me! Me!"

"What about your Mom, kid?"

"Moms don't count," Oliver countered like it should be obvious, "they're Moms."

With that particular pearl of youthful wisdom imparted, they were finally at the front of the drop off line. Unable to wait a single second more, Oliver opened his own door, undid his seatbelt and hopped out. The little girl waited patiently until he came around and opened her door, taking his hand automatically.

"Ready for this, Thea?" She nodded and they started up the steps to the exclusive preparatory school.

Normally, the crowded and loud hallways of his prep school didn't register; to him, that was just the way that it was. Having Thea with him though brought everything into a new light and it wasn't a good thing. Suddenly, the normal roughhousing of his friends was fraught with danger and the slams of the older kids' lockers was far too loud. Even the chattering gaggle of girls was something of which to be weary.

Just then the loud speakers throughout the building cracked to life with that annoying screech. Instinctively Oliver looked down to check that the noise hadn't startled the little girl. He had worried that such a crowd would trouble Thea, but she was perfectly happy; her bright green eyes followed every person in her field of vision.

He led her slowly, but surely, to the small table set up by the office. He scribbled his name down in the first column and hers in the second. He opened his mouth to explain why he had done that, but the words died in his throat as her grip tightened on his hand. The upper freshmen's gym teacher, a tall bulky man with a permanent scowl, passed them and Oliver didn't blame her for her fear; he knew many fellow students who were frightened under his glare. Of course, the little girl was disturbed by his mere presence. The look of concern faded from her face as she spotted Tommy across the hall.

"Ta-e!" She cried and released his hand to run over to the other boy. Oliver followed after her automatically. _This is going to be a long day._ "Ta-e!" Her little arms wrapped around his calves without a thought causing Tommy to wobble a little bit since he lacked time to brace himself for Thea's extra weight. "I school!"

"I see that." He bent down to scoop up the little girl who so desperately wanted a good morning hug. Oliver watched the two with a small smile on his face. Sure, Tommy may sometimes grow frustrated with the demands a sister put upon their time together, but all in all, Oliver knew his best friend cared for the three-year-old as well. "What happened to the 'No and that's that, Speedy?'" Tommy asked, his expression laughingly amused as he turned his gaze to Oliver.

The heir's smile quickly faded into a frown. He had meant what he said, he really had. Then Thea pulled out all the stops: making her eyes shine, dropping her head in sadness, making noises like she was sniffling. Just as he was about to cave anyway, she had gone running into their father's arms as soon as he got home and informed him that 'O'le don't love me no more!' That broke the young man's heart. He had no choice, but to bring her along. Tommy may not have been there to see that, but he knew. Thea had her big brother wrapped tightly around her pinky finger.

As if she could read his mind, Thea suddenly held out her arms towards him. "Ole! Ole!" Without a thought, he took her from Tommy's arms and planted her against his hip. "I better get her to class before she sees something shiny and takes off on me again. See you at lunch?"

"Yeah man," Tommy said, pushing his backpack strap up his shoulder. He ruffled Thea's carefully prepared waves as he passed by them. "See ya, kiddo."

"Attention all, please remember to disengage your dollies 'share' functionality if you have not already done so." It was too little, too late a warning for those who had forgotten; their synthetics were already trying to engage every other synth in the hall. It was funny watching their humans order disengagement in frantic voices; overloaded synths took forever to restart.

With Thea in his arms, looking around at everyone and everything, Oliver carried on towards his homeroom. It didn't surprise him that they were the first ones in the room; _who goes to homeroom early?_ The little girl frowned at the empty room, having found nothing worth her attention…until she spotted the deep purple chairs beside their each student's desks.

"Pur-tle!" She declared, "Pur-tle, O'le!"

"I see that," Oliver said, with that patient she-is-a-child tone. "One of them is for you, Speedy."

"Me?" She echoed, "why?"

"'Cause you're a special guest." He walked back to his assigned desk in the second row and set her down in the purple seat beside it. She slid her arms out of her backpack while Oliver did the same with his own. He reached over and grabbed the legs of her chair to pull her closer so that she could have use of his desk-top for her activities.

She didn't immediately start digging into her bag as he expected that she would. Instead her bright green eyes swept over the classroom, taking it all in. He turned his eyes too, looking around the classroom himself. _What does she see?_ To him, it was just the classroom where he had home room and English. The walls were a boring beige color and there were the stereotypical posters of famous book covers scattered about, plastered to the walls with that sticky gum-like stuff that teachers used for some reason. Yet, her eyes were alight with intrigue. _My Speedy can find excitement in anything_ , he realized with a soft chuckle.

"Okay, Thea, I need to tell you how today's gonna go, okay?" Her gaze turned immediately to him and he smiled softly. "Today isn't like any other day in school because of all the synths here." She nodded like that made perfect sense to her, but he suspected that she really didn't understand it.

"If all of the students had to move from classroom to classroom like normal, with everyone's synthetics trailing behind them…" He shook his head gently, "it'd be chaos. So today, it is the teachers who switch rooms."

"We stay here." Thea said in her tiny voice.

"Yup…except for lunch and gym."

She bit her lower lip as she processed this new information, "When we see Ta-e 'gain?"

"We'll have our lunchtimes together, I think," They'd been in the same lunch period on Dollie Day since third grade; there was no reason it would change now.

Getting back to the topic at hand, he explained, "Once everyone comes in here for what is called, 'Homeroom,' and attendance is taken, those of us bringing in our synthetics for the first time have to go up front and introduce them."

"So I goes up there to talk?" Thea asked, pointing up to the front of the classroom.

"Mmhmm," Oliver said with a small nod. He directed her attention towards the medium-sized box that came down low from the ceiling.

Before he could explain anything more to the little girl, the bell chimed loudly through the speaker system and an uncoordinated mass of students rushed in to the seventh grade classroom, their synths following close on their heels.

Without being too obvious about it, the eldest Queen heir watched as everyone hurried to get settled. Normally, the children would be dragging their feet, hating all of the time they were forced to spend in stuffy classrooms; today, however, was a chance to show off the best things money could buy and so everyone rushed to be entertained. There were one or two synthetics that Oliver didn't recall as the class filled in the rows of empty seats, but for the most part, it was the same group as in previous years. _Of course_ , Oliver thought, _who wants to talk in front of the whole school twice?_

Thea, on the other hand, unabashedly stared at every person that entered the room, be it human or otherwise. Curiosity on her part was natural; aside from the other synthetics in the Queen household, she hadn't yet had any real interaction with others like her. He'd have to start helping her find some friends, both synthetic and human, aside from himself and Tommy.

Ms. Appleby followed in after her students and made her way over to her desk at the head of the class. She was seemingly always frazzled and never quite all there. Personally, Oliver thought she would benefit a great deal from a synthetic, to help keep her schedule or something, but the young teacher was very adamant that she would never own a synthetic. It wasn't that she was against them or anything crazy like that; she just wanted to live her life herself. Oliver knew all of this because the kindly Miss Appleby had been his homeroom teacher for the past two years. She had explained to the class in her first year of teaching there why she never brought a synthetic with her on Dollie Day. She'd used words like "dependent" and the phrase "helpless in certain situations."

Oliver couldn't necessarily disagree with her view. His parents were a perfect example; both his mother and father had grown used to having synths do all the household chores and, if they were forced to do such things as the laundry or cook, it would be a disaster. Yet, as he watched Thea swing her little legs back and forth, making the heels of her shoes hit the legs of the chair so they would light up, he couldn't imagine going back to being an only child again either.

The announcements clicked on and blared through the loud speaker, but as usual, no one was paying the noise any mind. Ms. Appleby was doing a silent headcount of her students, though everyone kept shifting around. There was a tame buzz of noise as the other students asked about homework, sports, or gossip that helped make the droning announcements rather indistinguishable.

"How about we get you set up to color something pretty?" Oliver suggested before unzipping her backpack and taking out the crayons and coloring books. She'd brought all of them; he should have known. He fanned out them out on the desk's top, facing her. "Which one?"

Thea scrutinized the covers of the well-worn books as though the decision was vitally important. The face she made, all serious and slightly scrunch-y, was so adorable that it even caught the attention of the girl in the neighboring seat.

"Awe, aren't you just the most precious?"

The attention of both Queen siblings immediately swung towards the new voice: Aria Castle. Oliver's throat closed up just at the thought of talking to her. They'd been in various classes together since Kindergarten, but they'd only ever been the most casual of acquaintances. Aria was almost always upbeat, taking cheery to a whole new level. When one added her personality to her distinctive lengthy red hair and bright blue eyes, it made perfect sense why she was the most popular girl in their whole grade. She had so many friends already that Oliver never even considered trying for more than a casual association. Thea, however, had no such qualms.

"Thanks you!" She replied, just a touch too loudly, "I like your hairs. It's a pretty color."

Aria laughed lightly, pulling the simple braid over her shoulder unconsciously, "Thank you. I grow it myself."

The old joke was brand new for the three-year-old and it inspired peals of laughter from the little girl. The happy sound managed to shake Oliver free of the dilemma that had frozen him. It also caused several of his fellow students to finally take note of the young child in their midst; Oliver could not care less.

"Thea, this is Aria," he gestured from the edge of his desk to the outward edge of Aria's. "Aria, this is my little sister, Thea."

Aria smiled brightly, her ever so slightly too large front teeth showing, as she stretched across the desk to offer Thea her hand. "It's nice to finally meet you, Thea. Oliver talks about you all the time."

Oliver shot his fellow teenager a confused look. He'd never talked to Aria about Thea before. He barely said more than five words to her on any given day. He wasn't about to contradict her on the topic in front of Thea though. It was better to let the white lie go by without discussion.

Thea was thrilled to be treated as an adult and quickly hopped up, putting her knees on the seat of the purple chair, so that she too could stretch across the desk and shake the proffered hand.

"He's never said anything about you." Thea stated bluntly, inspiring several snickers from the other students, but Oliver stared straight at the board upfront and waited for the ground to swallow him alive. "But I think that's my fault." Thea tacked on after a second and his attention turned to her, just as Aria asked,

"What do you mean?"

"I do most of the talking when he gets home from school!" Thea declared unabashedly. "He's too nice to stop me. Even when he's bored."

"I have younger siblings myself," Aria commented, "they're twins, a little older than you, I would guess, and they talk my ears off too when I get home from school." She tossed Oliver a congenial look before quickly turning her focus back to the young girl. "But they are never boring. They have this special way of seeing their world and the stories they share are quite refreshing. I bet your brother feels the same way about your stories too."

Thea looked up at him, wanting a solid answer from the person in question.

"You haven't bored me ever, Speedy. How could you even think so?"

Before she began to fret about how to answer that inquiry, rhetorical questions were out of her grasp at three years of age, Oliver leaned over and tickled her. In no time at all, she was squirming in her seat and squealing in laughter as his fingers moved over her sides mercilessly. All thoughts of anything but the tickle monster were long gone now.

"Stop it! O'le stop it!" He didn't stop, taking too much joy in her laughter and her smile. His mother had cautioned, on more occasions then Oliver cared to acknowledge, that sooner rather than later he would grow bored of Thea because she served 'no valuable purpose.' Watching her as giggles tumbled from her mouth, Oliver found himself mystified that anyone could even think growing bored of Thea was a possibility. Yes, she didn't have a clearly defined purpose like most other Synthetics did. She wasn't meant to help with housework or manage the finances, but she didn't need one. Her value, much like with a human child, was in the journey.

It took a few minutes for him to realize that his entire homeroom was watching them. Blushing a little, Oliver stopped the tickling and folded his hands on his desk, trying to fade from attention. It was far too late for that; the sound of Thea's laughter had put them square in the spotlight and it wasn't fading anytime soon.

Thea reached up and wiped nonexistent tears from her cheeks, still having three years to go before she could be given the upgrade for tears, as well as food & drink consumption, before she too picked up on the attention they'd attracted. She gave the eerily silent group a small wave, "hi."

That was all it took. Most of the girls, and a few of the boys too, were out of their seats and crowding around the siblings in a tight, suffocating circle. They jostled one another as they all vied for Thea's focus. When hands began to reach for the little girl, fingers poking her face and tugging her hair with comments like, 'You'd never even know it wasn't human,' Oliver'd had enough.

He reached out, wrapped his arms around Thea, lifted and set her into his lap; it was a tight squeeze fitting the two of them into the chair with the attached desk, but he made it work. "Back off," he snapped as Thea turned to hide in the safety of his arms. She'd never been mobbed before; of course it was frightening for her. "She's not some doll for you to play with."

Several of the girls opened their mouths, to argue maybe, but then Aria spoke up, "You heard him." She stood up, came around her desk, and much like Oliver had seen their family guards do, she herded the people away, "Give the kid some room. Geez. What's wrong with you people?"

A couple of the chastised individuals glared at Aria as they returned to their seats, but the thirteen-year-old girl didn't even notice. Her focus seemed to be on the little girl hiding her face in Oliver's shirt. Her concern for his sister earned Aria even more points with Oliver. It was their teacher's friendly, but firm, order that the redhead take her seat once more that jolted the Queen heir back to reality.

"Hello there," Ms. Appleby greeted, her voice softer than Oliver had ever before heard. She knelt down in front of his desk, seemingly without concern for her perfectly professional outfit and the dirt and wrinkles that would be created by the choice. Her attention was focused on Thea who was rapidly returning to her bubbly, happy self now that she wasn't frightened. "Who are you?"

Thea sat up straighter in his lap as she proudly declared. "I is Thea Dearden Queen. O'le is my brother. Who are you?"

"I am Miss Appleby. I am one of Oliver's teachers." With that momentarily handled, the homeroom teacher turned her attention to her student. "She is a synth, isn't she?"

The question made the young boy frown for two reasons. First, it was extremely obvious that Thea wasn't human. Her eyes were still the bright green that could only belong to synthetics; Miss Appleby was an observant person; she could see that for herself. She was not yet old enough for the contacts that would help her blend in. Second, it was extremely rude for his teacher to speak about Thea like she wasn't sitting right there. She might have been only three, but she could understand and answer the question. It made him so mad when people spoke to him as though Thea couldn't speak for herself. The worst part was that it happened all the time. Mom was the worst offender, going so far as to flat out ignoring the little girl completely.

Luckily for him, and his detention record, Thea didn't care that the inquiry wasn't for her. She answered it just because she could. "I is!"

Before anything else could be said between them, the laptop sitting on the desk in front of the class dinged, a signal that the introductions were ready to begin. The young teacher stood again, brushing off the knees of her dress pants, before rushing over to the desk. With one hand Miss Appleby pulled down the screen, effectively covering the erasable board, while her dominant hand hit a few keyboard keys. The image of her computer's desktop filled the screen for a moment, but was quickly replaced by Mister Zwelliger, the sixth grade English teacher. His smile was just a little too tight and his gaze was beyond the camera. "First up, Tyler Trapsing."

For nearly an hour, it went on just like that: each teacher appeared, in reverse alphabetical order, introduced each student who had signed up as having brought a new Synthetic with them, the kids then talked for three minutes, and then the cycle began again. Finally, it was Miss Appleby's turn. Her smile was actually genuine as she called for the first of the three who brought new Synths with them. Oliver was last and Thea was practically vibrating in his lap in her excitement.

"Last, but in no way least, Oliver Queen and Thea."

Oliver picked Thea up with him as he stood and the three-year-old wrapped her arms around his neck. He smiled tightly as he came to stand in front of the camera and Thea grinned brightly, waving fervently at the class looking at them. "Hi, I'm Oliver Queen, and this," he shifted her weight on his hip as a way to indicate the little girl he was speaking of, "is my little sister, Thea Queen. She is a G-Series Synthetic."

Immediately, several hands shot into the air, but the thirteen-year-old already knew what they wanted to know. He answered the question without having to hear it aloud. "A G-Series Synthetic is a type of synthetic that begins as an infant and grows into an adult, like human babies do. The sales guy told me that they are generally made-to-order for couples in need of a child."

"How do you have one? Did your Mom and Dad order her?"

"No, when I went to pick out my first Synthetic, I wandered into the room where they kept the G-Series babies and I saw Thea in one of their incubators. It just so happened that the people who ordered her had cancelled her and she'd been in limbo ever since." He looked down at the happy little girl in his arms; a genuine smile turned his lips up. "I chose her, even though my parents were worried, and I don't regret that choice for a single second."

Thea tucked her face into his shoulder and Oliver didn't know why she did it, but he instinctively tilted his head to the left so that his cheek rested atop her hair. The 'awe' that inspired from the majority of his classmates could be heard even from the front of the room and embarrassment flooded him. He needed to distract them. "Um…any more questions?"

Many hands shot into the air and Oliver picked one of them without seeing whom the hand belonged to. "How long have you had her?"

Knowing the answer to that particular question, Thea spoke up, "I's three."

"Why haven't you brought her in before?"

Even at thirteen, the Queen heir was aware that he had to be diplomatic with his answer. The truth that he shared with Tommy wasn't acceptable for a school full of gossip-y heirs and heiresses. "She was too little. I thought she might be too…distracting."

The siblings stood in front of the class for another couple of minutes before they were ushered back to their seats. With the introductions done, their day truly began. Oliver was honestly surprised that Thea took to attending eighth grade so well. He would have thought she'd last one class before she would grow bored and beg him to go back home. To his amazement, she was a perfect little student for his two classes, Algebra & English. Given her young age, Oliver suspected that she didn't understand much, if any at all, of the lessons, but she stayed relatively quiet and seemed to be paying attention to his teachers.

Occasionally she would lean over and ask questions or seek clarification from him. During their special Dollie Day lesson on the pricing and fees included in the purchase of synthetics, she asked him 'if she was one of the pricey synths.' When Miss Appleby, in her function as English teacher, made them read a portion of _**I, Robot**_ by Isaac Asimov, Thea read it over his shoulder as best she could and even raised her hand to join in the class' discussion. Most of the others snickered as she explained her opinion with her limited vocabulary, but her big brother could only beam with pride. _Who else can say their three-year-old sister participated in a discussion meant for people a decade older than she was?_

By third period, it was Oliver who insisted she needed to act like a child. "It's naptime, Speedy."

"But I'm not tired," Thea protested stubbornly.

"You will be as soon as you lay down."

"But we be in school…nowhere to sleep."

That was a valid point. It wasn't as if there were naptime mats all over the place; they were in an eighth grade classroom, not a kindergarten one. Thankfully, Aria overheard their conversation and decided to contribute a solution. "I'll run to the gym and grab a mat for you, Thea."

Without waiting for confirmation from either sibling, Aria bolted from the classroom while they were in between teachers. Oliver took the moment to look at his disgruntled baby sister; she was sporting her most stubborn pout. It wouldn't sway the elder Queen this time. "You'll only be asleep for 45 minutes, Speedy, and when I wake you, it'll be time for lunch."

Her face lit up immediately, "Ta-e!"

Oliver buried the pang of jealousy he felt and said, "Mmhmm."

It was ridiculous of him to be jealous, Tommy was his best friend and he should be thankful that Thea liked him so much, but the truth was that he _was_ jealous. He was jealous because, despite Tommy's sometimes stand-offish attitude towards the little girl, the idea of seeing Tommy again made Thea's eyes light up.

Aria struggled to enter the classroom again with the stiff blue mat in her arms. Oliver put Thea back down in her purple chair and moved to assist the redhead with her burden. Together the two of them carried it to the back of the classroom and laid it down directly behind the last row of desks. She set about looking for jackets or sweatshirts that could be used to make Thea more comfortable while Oliver went back to retrieve the little girl.

"I don't wanna…" Thea mumbled, though her voice was just a bit sluggish. A gentle smile graced his lips as he picked her up. Her arms looped around his neck on instinct.

"I'll switch seats, okay? I'll be in the desk right in front of you and I'll wake you up as soon as your nap is over." He knelt beside the mat and laid her down on it, just as Ari placed a folded up sweatshirt where Thea's head was going to be. She shrugged off her bright yellow pea coat too and laid it over the three-year-old's legs without a word.

"Thanks you, Ar…" Thea mumbled as her eyes started to blink slower. Oliver and Aria watched until they were sure that Thea was in her 'sleep' mode, though she couldn't dream or receive any of the physical benefits that human toddlers did, before they turned away to retrieve Oliver's books.

"Smart move with the nap," Aria commented with a knowing smile.

"Yeah, she's too little to handle seeing the disembodied head of a synth being programmed to blink."

The boy who was seated two rows back and one chair to the right of Oliver's customary seat made a noise that halted Aria and Oliver. "You're ridiculous, Queen. Treating that thing like it's your sister, like it has feelings."

Before Oliver could even think of a response, Aria jumped in to defend Thea. His so-not-a-crush on her grew quite a bit in that moment. "You're the one who is ridiculous, Jesse. Just because she came to exist in a different way than you did doesn't mean that she doesn't have feelings." That assertion alone would have successfully shut down the argument that Jesse was trying to start, but Aria wasn't done. Not by a long shot.

"It is narrow-minded thinking to believe that just because they're different than us that synthetics don't have feelings. Dogs are different from humans, but they have feelings. We know when they are hungry, when they want attention. We know they feel unconditional love and loyalty. So why is it that people believe synthetics can't have feelings? You know what I think? I think it's fear. People don't want to believe synthetics can feel because it threatens the way humanity thinks of itself. They are afraid of what it will mean to acknowledge the existence of machines that can feel."

Jesse's face took on alarming shade of embarrassing red and it wasn't hard to figure out why. The rather stocky boy, like many of his gender in their grade, had a crush on Aria that was a mile wide. To be faced with her ire was the last thing Jesse wanted.

"That's quite enough, Miss Castle. This is an eighth grade computer class, not a college philosophy lecture." Everyone, but especially Aria, Oliver, and Jesse, were startled by the voice of their computer teacher, Mister Foster. Aria's spiel about emotional synthetics had captured their attention so thoroughly that no one had noticed their instructor wheeling in his lecture cart. "Take a seat, quickly, quickly now."

Oliver put Thea's coloring books and crayons back into her bag, slinging it over his shoulder, before picking his own books up and carrying them back towards the rear of the classroom. Thankfully the individual, who was seated in front of where Thea lay, had heard his promise to the little girl and switched seats with him without a word of objection.

Mister Fosters said nothing about Oliver's rather obvious seat switching; he had never been a stickler for seating charts. Instead, he just handed out the tablets by rows and instructed everyone to sign in to their own accounts in the cloud. Oliver tried to focus on his work as the time passed by, but it wasn't easy. Thea was napping, laying perfectly eerily still on the mat, and yet Oliver was still distracted by her mere presence. He couldn't see her from his seat and that made him uneasy; at least during his other lessons, she was in his peripheral vision.

The class was blessedly short and soon enough, Oliver was getting up from his seat and kneeling beside Thea, the cold of the tiles beneath his knees leeching into his pants. "Thea," he whispered, "it's time to wake up."

Her eyes blinked open, green irises taking a moment to focus in on reality. Her little hands curled into fists, reaching up to rub at her eyes like any child would. Unlike most children there was no sleep to brush out of her eyelashes as her nap was less like an actual rest and more like putting a computer to sleep.

 _The action's just programmed into her_ , Oliver shook his head to dispel the idea. He hated to think of her in any other way than as a human child. To him, she was just that, but life wasn't that simple. He couldn't be blissfully ignorant to the fact that she was not human. Making her feel that she was different, now, that was something he could prevent.

"Ollie?" The sound of her voice drew the thirteen-year-old back into the moment. He smiled softly and picked her up off the mat.

"Hey, sleepyhead, have a good nap?" She nodded, yawning a little, ducking her head onto his shoulder in the process. "Still tired, huh? Well, I'm sorry to wake you up, Speedy, but it's time for lunch."

Out of it as she was, Thea didn't react to the mention of the meal as she did before. All she did was sniffle and cuddle more into his body; he held onto her just a little tighter. Before he could panic about how he was going to carry her, her book bag, and his own, Aria was picking up the bags without a word, and walking beside them.

"Thanks," he said as they weaved their way through the students crowding the lunchroom's double doors. "She isn't a big fan of being put down on her own two feet once she has been picked up."

"No problem, my brothers were the same way when they were younger. Drove my mom crazy."

Oliver headed automatically for the table that he and Tommy usually occupied during lunch. Aria was a step behind him the whole way. He carefully untangled his little sister from around his midsection and set her down beside his best friend. To his relief, the other boy reached out and steadied Thea unconsciously.

"Can you keep an eye on her while I go get my lunch, Tommy?"

By the time he returned to the table, it was no longer just Tommy, Thea and Aria sitting at it. Every available inch of the plastic-covered wood benches was taken up by bodies and a large crowd enclosed it. He couldn't even see his friends through the masses that surrounded them. It took him nearly five minutes of polite requests and, when he grew tired of being ignored, shoving to get through. Oliver set his tray down in the space in front of Thea before he picked her up again, sat down, and settled her into his lap. Thea peered up at him immediately, her bright green eyes wide with worry and fright. Everyone gathered around them was talking about her, asking questions, or in some brazen cases, trying to touch her.

On one hand, he couldn't blame them for their curiosity. GSS were one-of-a-kind synthetics and so expensive to buy that they were rarely produced. He would be willing to guess that most of his fellow students had never seen a Synth like Thea outside of promotional videos and it was not likely that they would encounter another. It made sense that they all wanted to interact with her while they had the opportunity. On the other hand, though, the crowding and all the noise was too much stimulation for Thea. She wasn't used to being the center of **this** much attention and it was frightening her. Her needs trumped their curiosity any day.

"Back off," His voice was loud; a necessity in order to be heard over the din of the busy cafeteria. "She's three-years-old. She's still learning her colors and shapes, geez. She knows nothing about how she was made or anything like that. Can't you see you're scaring her?"

The crowd at and around their table went relatively quiet, going from a dull roar of conversation to a much softer murmur. Oliver felt the tension leaving Thea's little body as several people began going back to their own business. Out of the corner of his eye, Oliver saw Tommy relax his posture too. Unlike her lunchtime companions, Aria put her feelings into words.

"I was afraid they were going to mob the table and try to snatch her away." Never before had Oliver ever wanted the boisterous redhead to shut up, but there was a first time for everything. "She would go for a ridiculous amount on the synthetic black market, you know?"

Of course Oliver knew that; he wasn't stupid. The problem was that _Thea_ had not known that. He had done his best to keep the darker realities of life away from the child. Now Aria had gone and blown that out of the water. It took less than two seconds for Thea to react to the older girl's words.

"Sna'ch me?" Thea echoed, her voice wobbling as if with tears, though she had none to shed. Her eyes were wide as she looked up at him yet again. "I don' wanna be sna'ched!"

"No one's gonna snatch you, Speedy." Oliver assured her gently, pressing a soft kiss to her right temple. "I won't let them."

"Of course he won't," chimed in a new voice from behind Oliver's back. Jesse. Both Aria and Oliver cringed at the sound of Jesse's voice. Nothing he could possibly say would be good. Oliver was half tempted to cover Thea's ears before Jesse spewed whatever vile words were on his mind. Thea, however, was so engrossed in picking up the fries from his tray, lifting them to her lips, pantomiming eating them, and returning the uneaten fries to his tray. He didn't bother disrupting her process by covering her ears.

"He wouldn't want anyone else to get the fruits of his grooming."

"Dude!" Tommy exclaimed, his tone angry.

In the same instant, Aria hissed, "Knock it off, Jesse; that's not cool."

"Oh come on," Jesse said, his tone disbelieving and angry. "Why else would he buy a GSS? They are made for child-less couples. Even you have to admit, Ari, it's super creepy. You aren't really buying this magical sister happenstance story, right?"

Oliver could feel anger coiling in his body with each word that left Jesse's mouth. Yet he couldn't move or speak to stop the other boy's tirade. Numbly, he felt Tommy take Thea from his arms. He saw her sneakers light up as Tommy stood her on the tabletop and sent her over towards Aria. As soon as she got there, Aria helped her down again.

"He's a fucking pedophile, Aria. How can you, all of you, not see that?"

"What's a pet-o-pile?"

It was Thea's soft question that finally shook Oliver out of his numb state. The tables surrounding their own had gone quiet, whether from shock that Jesse had accused Oliver of such a thing or because they were waiting for Oliver's response.

"Tell me, synth," Jesse said, turning his attention to the three-year-old, "does he ever touch you in your private places?"

 _That is it_. Oliver maneuvered his way off the attached bench and faced Jesse. The two of them had a confrontation coming for a long time now; calling Oliver a pedophile in front of his little sister was the last straw.

"Aria, get Thea out of here now." The bench creaked as the redheaded young woman stood. He heard Thea shoes squeak as Aria picked her up to carry her out. He felt Tommy's presence at his back, ready to help him without hesitation. Oliver never looked away from his enemy; not even when Thea cried out, 'O'le! O'le! I don' wanna go!'

As soon as he heard the doors shut and Thea's pleas faded off, Oliver threw himself at Jesse, words falling out of his mouth like water, "I would never hurt my sister!" Before Jesse could do or say anything, Oliver punched him in the face. Jesse's friend, Zander, reacted as Jesse doubled over, holding his nose, trying to punch Oliver in retaliation but Tommy had Oliver's back and intercepted the attack.

The fight didn't last for more than a minute and it only carried on that long because the synthetic security guards couldn't get through the crowd of humans filming the fight on their cellphones with their synthetics at their sides. When they were successfully pulled apart, Jesse's nose was bloodied and his head was bleeding; Oliver's lip was broken and he had a wicked bruise on his jaw that was starting to bloom.

The synthetic guards escorted the four of them to the Principal's office, not being swayed by any argument the teenagers attempted to make for leniency. The secretary looked up as the door to the office opened.

"What happened?"

The guard holding Oliver's arms answered her, "These young men were fighting."

The woman sighed, her gray hair shining silver in the florescent lights, "You two," she pointed at Oliver and Tommy with her pen, "over there." She gestured to the chairs on the right side of the doorway they currently stood in.

The secretary then directed the other two young men to the seats on the left side of the door. Both pairs of best friends took the seats indicated to them and stayed silent. Everyone knew better than to cross Mrs. Morton; she had the principal's ear, after all, and afterschool detention for the remainder of the school year was a punishment she was known to dish out, by proxy of course, if she felt the need to do so.

Tension radiated from all four teenagers as they awaited their fate. The not knowing was so much worse when individuals kept coming and going from the Principal's office without a word or glance spared for the boys. First, it was Mrs. Morton going in to inform the Principal about what little she knew. Then she poked her head back out and summoned the security synthetics inside. After that the guards left and returned only a few minutes later with several of their fellow students and the synthetics they brought with them that day.

Being so blatantly ignored made Oliver feel uneasy. He'd done the morally right thing by defending his name, but he wasn't naive. Their preparatory school had a no tolerance policy on physical violence and he had been the one to throw the first punch. No matter how justified he felt in doing so, he was still going to be in huge trouble for it.

When that wooden door opened and Principal Coffman stepped out, Oliver's stomach dropped. The man was usually rather jovial in nature, joking and laughing in good humor with the students under his charge, but now his face was stern as he looked down at the four of them. "You and you," he pointed at Tommy and Zander, "afterschool detention for two days. Mrs. Morton has your hall passes to return to class. Go."

Without waiting another second, Zander was up and out of the office, no thought spared for the best friend that he was leaving behind. Tommy, however, hesitated to take the out that their principal offered. "It's okay, Tommy, go."

When even Oliver's assurance didn't spar his best friend into motion, their principal did. "Now, Mister Merlyn."

As Tommy was exiting through the very door in which they entered, Oliver heard the tell-tale click of heels on linoleum. Dread filled the Queen heir. His mother would no doubt have been the one called in and she would not be happy about having her workday interrupted by this. Luckily for him it wasn't his mother who entered the office, but Jesse's. The woman was dressed, rather unnecessarily, to the nines and made up as if she was headed out on a date.

"Mrs. Johnson," Principal Coffman greeted and the woman's ruby painted lips stretched into a smile over too white teeth. "Why don't the three of us head into my private office to talk, hmm?"

"Absolutely." Jesse looked positively miserable as he followed behind his mother and the school administrator. Oliver felt kind of sorry for him, for a moment, then he remembered what the other boy had said in front of Thea and the emotion was gone.

Twelve minutes more passed in silence before the door beside his chair swung open yet again. When Oliver got up the courage to raise his eyes, his mother's impassive gaze met his. "Hi, Mom."

"A fight. Really, Oliver?"

The tone of her voice was an indication that she had more to say on the subject, but wasn't willing to do so when someone else, namely Mrs. Morton, could hear. In their family everything was about public perception. This was, however, the first time that Oliver was glad that their family name was such a heavy mantel they all wore. If they were a normal family, without having to worry about their troubles becoming fodder for Starling City's trashiest tabloids, he'd be getting yelled at right then.

"It's not totally my fault, Mom I was just reacting." A loud shout from the smaller room interrupted his plea.

"This is fucking bullshit!" The door to the Principal's office slammed open harshly. Jesse's stomped passed them, sneering at Oliver in the process of leaving the office in its entirety. His mother shook the Principal's hand politely before following in her son's footsteps, vacating the outer office quickly.

Mister Coffman took a deep breath, seemingly gathering himself, before turning to face the two Queens with a tense smile plastered on his features. "Mrs. Queen, thank you for joining us. Shall we all adjourn to my office to discuss this matter privately?"

Moira stood and followed the school administrator with Oliver reluctantly on her heels. _This is going to suck…_

As it turned out, the meeting wasn't that terrible. Yes, he got suspended as school policy dictated, but it was only for two days. The short nature of his sentence was due to the principal's discretionary power. As the mother and son were leaving the man's private office, the administrator put his hand upon Oliver's shoulder to pause his forward movement.

"If someone had called me such a thing, especially in the presence of my sister," the elder man smirked a little, "I'd have done exactly what you did, Mister Queen."

With those validating words easing his mind, Oliver smiled as he headed towards the main entrance of the private school. "O'le!" His nickname echoed around the empty hall seconds before little arms wrapped tight around his knees, causing him to pitch forward for a few perilous seconds.

"Thea," Oliver chastised softly with a small laugh. He reached down and untangled her arms before he turned around to pick her up.

One look at his injured face and the young girl looked a combination of both shocked and sad at the same time. "You is hurt." Tiny fingers reached up and gently touched his busted lip. A small spark of pain registered in his brain, but he tried not to react to it. "Why?"

"He got into a fight." Moira chimed in, her voice startling her daughter.

"Momma!" She squirmed reaching for her mother without trying to get out of her brother's grasp. Moira ignored the child completely and a frown bloomed on Oliver's face.

That was when Aria came running up to him, skidding to a stop a few feet away. "I'm so sorry, Oliver. She was right beside me, I swear, and I looked away for two seconds and she was gone. She's like the world's most silent ninja."

"It's alright, Ari; you found her, and anyway, it happens to the best of us."

"Sorry, Aria," Thea whispered softly. "I heard O'le. I worried."

Aria let out a slow breath before replying, "All that matters is that you're safe, Thea." She turned her attention to Oliver, proffering the siblings' forgotten bags, "Call me when you can, okay? I put my number in your math binder."

Moira ushered brother and sister out of the building before Oliver could stutter his way through answering his classmate's question. Once they reached the car, he buckled his sister into her car seat without a thought. He slid into the back and his mother followed suit. The driver pulled away from the curb as soon as all of the seatbelts were fastened. It took less than two minutes for Moira to activate the soundproof partition between the front and rear of the vehicle, and turned to him abruptly.

"I let you take your Synth to school one time, Oliver, and this is what happens? A fight? We've taught you better than that."

"Mom," Oliver countered, "You saw the footage. You heard what Jesse said about me, about Thea. Everyone near us heard him. How could I not hit him?"

"Violence is never the answer."

His voice rose with anger as he insisted, "Thea was sitting right there, Mom! She heard him call me- "

He paused to look at Thea, who was watching them both intently with her bottom lip caught between her teeth. "Speedy, this is private, okay? Put your hands over your ears and hum until I stop you."

The young girl opened her mouth, to object most likely, but she decided against it just as quickly and her mouth closed again. Her hands settled over her ears, above her hair, and her eyes closed. He watched until she started to hum the song, _Tale as Old as Time_ before he continued his justification,

"He called me a pedophile, Mom. In front of everyone. In front of Thea! What was I supposed to do?" 

For a few fleeting seconds it seemed as if his mother would have no choice, but to see his side of things. How could she not? It was so clear that even the Principal saw Oliver had a right to defend himself against such outlandish slander. When she finally spoke, it was to say the most dreaded statement for a kid to hear, "We'll just see what your Father has to say about all of this, young man." Oliver tapped Thea on the shoulder as the conversation died away and her humming ceased. The rest of the car ride was silent as the Towne Car made its way towards the mansion.

As soon as the three of them were through the door to the mansion, Moira spoke again "Thea, go to your room and stay there."

Bright green eyes turned up to look at him. It wasn't necessary for her to seek approval from him to do as their mother instructed her. As secondary users, both Moira and Robert could make such requests of Thea without his okay. Thea, however, in moments of tension did tend to check with him just in case. He nodded and she started to climb the long staircase closest to them; the task was a bit of a challenge for the toddler, given her tiny limbs, but she always got there in the end, it just took her awhile.

Thankfully, Moira waited until they both heard the telltale click of a door closing upstairs before she started yelling at him. He was aware that she did that solely for his benefit. They were both well aware that, if she wished to, Thea would be able to hear their conversation as if they were standing up against the wall of the bedroom adjoining her own.

"This has gone too far, Oliver, it really has."

That...wasn't what he'd expected her to say at all. "What?"

"You aren't a child anymore, it's time to put away childish things."

Her explanation didn't clear anything up. _What is she going on about?_ It wasn't as if he got into fights frequently. _What else is there?_

His mother sighed, frustrated that he wasn't getting it, "It's time to recycle Thea-"

"No!" Oliver objected vehemently before the sentence could even be finished, "Absolutely not!"

"We'll get you another synth, sweetheart. One who can help you somehow." Her hand came up to rest on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off angrily. _How can she even suggest such a thing?_

"I don't want another synth," He countered, "Thea is my synth."

Before anything more could be said to infuriate the young man, he turned on his heel and took the stairs two at a time, ignoring his name being called behind him. He was furious that anyone, especially their mother, would suggest recycling Thea. He wasn't going to give up his little sister for anything.

He bypassed his bedroom without a thought, heading automatically for Thea's. Whether or not she was listening to their discussion, he needed to see her in order to calm his racing heart. When he opened her door, he caught sight of her immediately. She was curled up on top of her covers, staring blankly at the wall across from her bed.

"You heard, huh?" It wasn't actually a question. The look on her face spoke volumes.

She nodded softly, turning her head down to look at him. He sighed and bridged the distance between them. Without a word, he picked her up for a moment, flipped her covers back before setting her down on her mint green sheets. She looked even smaller suddenly.

"O'le," Thea said as he tucked her Cinderella themed blankets around her tightly. She felt safer tucked in her bed than anywhere else. "Why does Momma hate me?"

Her question, while expected, broke Oliver's heart. Thea was just a child; she didn't deserve to have to ask such things. She shouldn't have to hear the woman meant to be her mother talk about her like she was something to discarded. The three-year-old should be the apple of her mother's eye. Human or not, Thea deserved to be the family's princess.

"It's not you, Speedy. Mom…she just grew up in a different time. I think she is just struggling to adapt to the world as it is now, that's all." Oliver took a seat beside her and stretched his right arm out along the headboard. Instinctively, she cuddled into his side. "When she was a kid they didn't have synthetics. Humans did everything for themselves."

Her forehead furrowed in thought as she considered his words. After a minute of silence Thea asked, "Is that why those people on the news do those bad things to synthetics too? Is Momma like them?"

Oliver turned his face into her hair to hide his responding flinch. He'd thought she was too busy playing with her Barbie dolls or coloring to pay attention to what was happening on the evening news. Clearly he'd not given the three-year-old enough credit. He pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head.

"It's scary, huh?"

She nodded again, turning her face into his chest, "Uh huh."

"You know I'd never let anything happen to you, right? I'll always be here to protect you, Speedy."

Her reaction to his promise wasn't immediate and that crushed Oliver. It should have been an instinctive 'yes' on her part, but it wasn't. "Momma wants to re'ycle me…"

He closed his eyes in frustration. "I'm not going to let her do that. I'm not going to let anyone do anything that will separate us."

"You can't be here all the times." Thea whispered, her voice forlorn. That was actually a valid point. He had school and friends. He couldn't be constantly worried every time he had to leave Thea's side that he might find her gone when he returned. There had to be something he could do to ensure her safety.

"It's too bad that I can't just password protect you," Oliver teased, but his joke gave him an idea. "Wait here, Speedy, I just thought of something."

With that said, Oliver disentangled himself from his sister and ran to his bedroom. He opened the door and raced over to his desk. The drawer stuck a little when he went to slide it out, but the thirteen-year-old didn't pay any mind to it. His attention was solely on his search as he rooted through the contents. Finally finding the book that he sought, Oliver grabbed it and made his way back to his sister.

Thea's unnaturally green eyes were wide as he burst back into her bedroom. He held the book up as he informed her, "When we first brought you home, I started to read this-"

"Started?"

He stuck his tongue out at her, "I was ten! It's a thick user's manual, okay? I figured I could learn what I need to know by interacting with you."

She smiled and his defensiveness melted away. "Anyway, I remember reading something about protecting synthetics from tampering, unauthorized recycling, things like that." He sat down on the very edge of her tiny bed and began flipping through the pages. When Thea crawled down the mattress and scooted into his side, attempting to peer at the book even though she wouldn't be able to read it. Oliver simply adjusted his position so that she could slide under his arm and rest against his side once more.

"Found it!"

Thea leaned over to peer down at the pages even harder. Her reading abilities were not good enough yet that she could understand the words, but he was proud of her for trying anyway. "It will require me to put you into setup mode, I'll be as fast as I can, though."

She giggled behind her hand, not fooled in the least by his attempt to make it seem like he would do it fast for her benefit. "You just don't like my setup voice."

"It's creepy!" Oliver defended, "It's an emotionless adult voice coming from your body." He sighed and untangled himself from his sister without warning. She tipped over a little without his weight to brace against. "You ready to do this now?"

Thea looked hesitant, but as always, she squared her shoulders and nodded with serious determination. She offered him her left hand and he took it gently. He tapped the tips of her pinkie, ring, index, and pinkie again ever so lightly before speaking his setup phrase, different than his initial phrase when she was an infant. "Green, six, Tulip, Orphan, two, Dolphin."

With that final syllable, her bright green eyes turned into the blue of her setup mode. "Setup mode activated. Please indicate what process you would like to engage." The voice was indeed as creepy as Oliver remembered it.

"I'm trying to initialize," He looked down at the book to make sure he was getting the phrase correct, "synthetic protection procedures."

"Such actions may only be enacted by the synthetic's primary user. Voice print identification required. Please state your name to begin initialization."

"Oliver Queen."

"Initialization had begun. Would you like to passcode or voice print lock this synthetic?"

He considered both options. "Voice print lock."

"Voice print lock activated." With that confirmation, Oliver repeated the process of tapping on her fingers in the same pattern as before and setup mode shut down. Her eyes faded back to their usual green color.

"Did it work, O'le?" Her voice was soft, almost sleepy in nature, but there was a smile playing at her lips. It warmed his heart.

"It worked."

Thea grinned brightly and threw her arms around his neck, "I love you, O'le."

He smiled into her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her as well, "I love you too, Speedy."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** I am so sorry that this chapter took so long. Hopeful the length helps make the up for the wait, doves. Next chapter, we'll be fast-forwarding to the Pilot of ARROW. See you then.


End file.
